Newly designed upper lateral cartilage flap for preventing depression of the keystone area in large-nose septorhinoplasty

Importance Because large dorsal reduction may weaken the keystone area, later notching of this area should be prevented while reducing large humps during septorhinoplasty. Objective To determine whether a triangular-shaped flap of upper lateral cartilages (ULCs) that we designed can prevent secondary deformity of the nasal dorsum in the keystone area following large hump reduction. Design, Setting, and Participants In this retrospective study, medical records aswell as preoperative and postoperative photographs of septorhinoplasty cases in which triangular flaps had been used between April 1, 2012, and March 3, 2013, were reviewed. Data analysis was conducted from March 3 toMay 10, 2014. Demographic data, amount of hump reduction, and any irregularity of the dorsum in the keystone area mentioned in the medical record or identified in postoperative profile view photographs were assessed. The study was conducted in a research center, and the operations were performed in a private setting. Patients had been scheduled for septorhinoplasty with flap reconstruction if more than 3mm of dorsal hump reduction was planned and their skin was not thin. Of 41 identified patients, 3 could not be monitored for 1 year; 38 patients were included in the analysis. Exposures Open septorhinoplasty had been performed, and more than 3mmof dorsum had been removed in all patients whose data were analyzed. During stepwise resection of the nasal dorsum, a triangular-shaped remnant of the most cephalomedial part of the ULC was maintained intact on each side over the keystone area. Main Outcomes and Measures Irregularity of the nasal dorsum over the keystone area in postoperative profile view photographs. Results More than 3mmof hump reduction had been made in all 38 patients. No irregularities were observed in the postoperative photographs or had been found on digital examination of the keystone area after at least 12 months of follow-up. Conclusion and Relevance Maintaining a remnant of the ULC over the keystone area in the form of a triangular-shaped flap on each side is a simple, reliable, and durable way to prevent notching of the keystone area during lowering of the nasal dorsum in large noses with sufficient skin thickness. © 2015 American Medical Association. All rights reserved

Air quality and variations in PM10 pollutant concentration in western iran during a four-year period (2008-2011), Kermanshah-a case study

The present study explored the quality of PM10, over a four-year period in the western part of Iran. A total of 1334 samples were collected from air pollution measurement stations in Kermanshah. Statistical analysis was carried out using the SPSS ver.14. The results showed that the total percent change in PM10 over a period of 4 years was 10.04, 59.2, 26.4, 0.7 and 3.3. The highest and the lowest frequencies of PM10 occurred in February with 37.7, June and July with 0; winter and summer months with 21.96 and 4.81, respectively. The results are depicted that the air quality in July, the summer months and 2008 was worst in terms of PM10 concentration, which was mainly due to the fluctuations and acute entrance of dust particles into western Iran. Hence, the reduction in such emissions is indispensable and requires extensive and considerable cooperation between the government of Iran and the neighbouring countries. © School of Engineering, Taylor�s University

Synergistic Accumulative Effect of Salicylic Acid and Dibutyl Phthalate on Paclitaxel Production in Corylus avellana Cell Culture

Suspension cell cultures of Corylus avellana were challenged with salicylic acid and its combined use with dibutyl phthalate solvent. Salicylic acid with concentrations of 12.5, 25 and 50 mg L–1 and 10% (v/v) dibutyl phthalate were used and added on day 8 and 10 of subculture, respectively. The results showed that growth, viability and protein content of cells were decreased by the treatments, compared to control. In all treatments, hydrogen peroxide content and lipid peroxidation rate of cells increased, compared to those of the control cells. Activity of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase increased by salicylic acid and, dibutyl phthalate exaggerated effect of salicylic acid. While flavonoids content decreased by the treatments, paclitaxel content increased significantly. The extracellular paclitaxel was more affected, compared to cell-associated paclitaxel and all treatments increased paclitaxel release and specific yield compared to that of the control. The most production of paclitaxel and specific yield of it were observed under effect of combined use of salicylic acid (50 mg L–1) and dibutyl phthalate, suggesting a synergistic accumulative effect

Diode calibration for dose determination in total body irradiation

Background: Total Body Irradiation (TBI) is different from standard radiotherapy in many aspects, so it is not easy to predict the delivered dose to the patient under TBI treatment. Diode dosimetry procedures for surface dose reading can help to define variations of the actually delivered dose from the prescribed one. The aim of this study was to describe the measurements made to calibrate diodes in order to implement as a dosimeter for TBI tratment. An algorithm was also proposed based on diode dosimetry in order to determine the midplane dose. Materials and Methods: In this study, four p-type diodes connected to a MULTIDOSE electrometer were implemented as dosimeter. For diode calibration a water phantom with dimension of 30�30�32cm3 along with a 0.6 cc Farmer ion chamber were used. Directional dependence of diodes, the effects of thickness correction factor and complete backscatter factor were studied. Three algorithms, arithmetic, geometric mean and proposed algorithm were used to investigate midplane dose determination in TBI condition. Results: It was found by measurements that the effect of angle incident on diode response was significant and should have been taken into account. Variation in thickness correction factor was found about 0.7. The accuracy in midplane dose determination in the arithmetic, geometric mean and proposed algorithm was about 3.8, 12.5 and 3.3, respectively. Conclusion: Diode dosimetry is very useful as a check of midplane dose delivered to patients under TBI treatment. When the calibration and correction factors are carefully determined, high precision can be obtained. The proposed algorithm by this study seems to be useful in order to midplane dose determination in TBI condition

Variable Resolution Sampling and Deep Learning-Based Image Recovery for Faster Multi-Spectral Imaging Near Metal Implants

Purpose: In multi-spectral imaging (MSI), several fast spin echo volumes with discrete Larmor frequency offsets are acquired in an interleaved fashion with multiple concatenations. Here, a variable resolution (VR) method to nearly halve scan time is proposed by only acquiring low resolution autocalibrating signal in half of the concatenations. Methods: Knee MSI datasets were retrospectively undersampled with the proposed variable resolution sampling scheme. A U-Net model was trained to predict the full-resolution images from the VR input. Image quality was assessed in 10 test subjects. Results: Spectral bin-combined images produced with the proposed variable resolution sampling with deep learning reconstruction appear to be of high quality and exhibited a median structural image similarity of 0.984 across test subjects and slices. Conclusion: The proposed variable resolution sampling method shows promise for drastically reducing the time it takes to collect multi-spectral imaging data near metallic implants. Further studies will rigorously examine its clinical utility across multiple implant scenarios

Efficiency comparison of alum and ferric chloride coagulants in removal of dye and organic material from industrial wastewater - A case study

Coagulation and flocculation are most widely methods used for dye and pollution removal from various wastewaters. The aim of this study is efficiency comparison of inorganic coagulant (Alum and Ferric Cchloride) for treatment of textile factory wastewater. The appropriate coagulant was selected at optimum condition for treatment of textile's factory wastewater by measuring of dye, COD, BOD5 and TSS parameters. The different pH (4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9) was used for determine the optimum pH. Totally, 240 samples were collected and exanimated according the standard methods of wastewater and water tests. Results showed that the ferric chloride has more removal efficiency than alum in removal of COD, TSS and dye. The most removal of COD, TSS and dye using alum was obtained 36, 19 and 68.8 while for ferric chloride was obtained 72, 60 and 98 respectively. The optimum pH 7 and 5 were obtained for alum and ferric chloride respectively. Based on the results, it can be concluded that COD, TSS and dye removal using ferric chloride has higher efficiency than alum. Therefore, application of ferric chloride in the same conditions is preferred than alum. © 2015 Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Union of Chemists in Bulgaria

Evaluation of Yield and Quality of Peach Fruit (Prunus persica var Red Top) Cultivated under Split Roots System, Inoculated with Fungi and Irrigated with different Levels

Introduction Water scarcity is one of the most important limiting factors threatening the production of horticultural crops. Approximately, 45% of the world's arable land is subject to permanent or intermittent water shortages, and approximately 50% of the world's annual yield is lost due to drought. Due to climate changes, especially the increase temperature and decrease rainfall in recent years in Iran, most of the gardens are facing limited water resources. In order to reduce water stress, increasing water use efficiency by naval technics seems to be crucial. Peach fruit growth mainly depends on adequate water supply. Therefore, water stress reduces the growth of the fleshy part and the quality of the peach fruits. Split root means placing a part of the root in different conditions compared to the remains of the root. Studies on split root culture were done in the laboratory for the first time. Increasing water holding capacity by split root system may improve soil- plant water availability. Furthermore, many studies indicated that Mycorrhiza and Trichoderma fungi improve the absorption of water and nutrients by plant. Increasing the absorption of water and nutrients leads to increasing growth and yield. The aim of this research was to improve the water efficiency and the use of low-yielding lands by placing a bag containing pumice and inoculating the roots with fungi. Materials and Methods This experiment was performed as a factorial experiment based on randomized complete blocks design with three replications for two years. Treatments included placing the bag close to the trunk of peach trees in three levels (without bag, one bag and two bags), different levels of irrigation (50, 75 and 100% of field capacity) and root inoculation treatments with mycorrhiza, Trichoderma fungi and control without fungus. Redtop peaches grafted on GF677 rootstock were planted in May 2018. The bags were placed at a depth of 60 cm and at a distance of 40 and 60 cm from the tree trunk. The bags size was 40 liters filled with pumice. At 20 cm from the top of the bag, three holes were made to remove excess water from that part and as a signal to cause the root to move towards the bag. For plants treated with mycorrhiza, 250 g of Mycorrhiza glomus was mixed and for plants treated with Trichoderma, 4.5 g of Trichoderma harizanium was mixed with pumice in the bag. In treatments with no bag placement, the plant roots were inoculated with fungi. Characteristics such as relative water content (RWC), yield, total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity (TA), TSS/TA, total phenol and fruit anthocyanin were measured at the end of growing season. Fruit skin color characteristics including L*, a*, b*, Chroma and Hue were measured with a colorimeter. Statistical analysis was performed by SAS software version 9.1. Mean data were compared using Duncan's multiple range test. drawing diagrams done by Excel software.   Results and Discussion The results showed that bag placement increased RWC. The highest RWC of leaf was measured in the treatment of placing two bags, 75% irrigation and root inoculation with Trichoderma fungus. In the main effect of bag placement, irrigation levels and root inoculation, the highest RWC of leaf was observed in placing a bag, 100% irrigation and root inoculation with Trichoderma fungus, respectively. The treatment one bag, 100% irrigation and root inoculation with mycorrhiza improved vegetative growth and produced the largest trunk diameter.  Yield in terms of fresh weight of fruit in two-bag placement, 100% irrigation and root inoculation with mycorrhiza was increased by 1.8 compared to the control. The highest TA was measured in the treatment of placing a bag, 50% irrigation and root inoculation with mycorrhizal fungus. Treatment without bag placement, 75% irrigation and without fungus inoculation had the highest total soluble solids and TSS/TA of fruit. The index ratio of TSS/TA is used to determine the taste of the fruit. The highest total phenol and anthocyanin of fruit was observed in treatments without bag under 50% irrigation levels. One bag placement, 75% irrigation without fungal inoculation treatment and no bag placement treatment, 50% irrigation, mycorrhiza inoculation caused the a* and L* of the fruit skin increased. The interaction effect of the three factors of bag placement, irrigation levels and root inoculation with fungus had no significant effect on Hue and b*. Conclusion The results of this experiment showed that water consumption can be reduced by placing a bag. The finding of the experiment led to the conclusion that a bag placement treatment, 75% irrigation and inoculation with mycorrhizal fungus improve fruit yield and quality of peach trees

Comparison of predictions of daily evapotranspiration based on climate variables using different data mining and empirical methods in various climates of Iran

To accurately manage water resources, a precise prediction of reference evapotranspiration (ETref) is necessary. The best empirical equations to determine ETref are usually the temperature-based Baier and Robertson (BARO), the radiation-based Jensen and Haise (JEHA), and the mass transfer-based Penman (PENM) ones. Two machine learning (ML) models were used: least squares support vector regression (LSSVR) and ANFIS optimized using the particle swarm optimization algorithm (ANFPSO). These models were applied to the daily ETref at 100 synoptic stations for different climates of Iran. Performance of studied models was evaluated by the correlation coefficient (R), coefficient of determination (R2), mean absolute error (MAE), root mean square error (RMSE), scatter index (SI) and the Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE). The combination-based ML models (LSSVR4 and ANFPSO4) had the lowest error (RMSE = 0.34–2.85 mm d−1) and the best correlation (R = 0.66–0.99). The temperature-based empirical relationships had more precision than the radiation- and mass transfer-based empirical equations

Cryopreservation of Ram Semen in Extenders Containing Soybean Lecithin as Cryoprotectant and Hyaluronic Acid as Antioxidant

P. 934-940A soybean lecithin‐based extender supplemented with hyaluronic acid (HA) was assayed for effectiveness to improve the quality of frozen–thawed ram semen. HA has not been tested yet in an extender containing soybean lecithin for freezing ram semen. Thus, the aim of this study was to analyse the effects of soybean lecithin at 1% or 1.5% along with HA at 0, 0.5 and 1 mg ml‐1 in a Tris‐based extender on the motion characteristics, membrane integrity (HOST), viability, GSH peroxidase (GSH‐PX) activity, lipid peroxidation and acrosomal status after freezing–thawing. Semen was collected from four Mehraban rams during the breeding season and frozen in the six lecithin×HA extenders. The extender containing 1.5% lecithin supplemented with no HA yielded higher total motility (52.5%±1.6), viability (55.8%±1.6) and membrane integrity (44.5%±1.7), but the effects of the lecithin concentration did not reach signification. Linearity‐related parameters, ALH, BCF, lipid peroxidation, GSH‐PX activity, morphology and acrosomal status were not affected by the extender composition. In general, adding HA significantly decreased sperm velocity (1 mg ml‐1 HA), total motility (only with 1.5% lecithin), viability (1 mg ml‐1 HA for 1% lecithin; both concentrations for 1.5% lecithin) and membrane integrity. In conclusion, adding HA to the freezing extender supplemented with soybean lecithin failed to improve quality‐related variables in ram semen. Increasing the lecithin content could have a positive effect, but further studies are needed.S

Hepatitis A virus and Hepatitis E virus seroprevalence among blood donors in Tehran, Iran

Background: Hepatitis A virus (HAV) and Hepatitis E virus (HEV) are both transmitted by the fecal-oral route and are known as the leading causes of acute viral hepatitis in the world, especially in developing countries. There is a lack of updated data on HAV and HEV seroprevalence in Iran. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of HAV and HEV among a group of blood donors in Tehran, Iran. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed from July 2014 to December 2014, on a total of 559 blood donors referred to the Tehran blood transfusion center. The serum samples were tested for antibodies to HAV and HEV, using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: In the present study, 536 (95.9) cases were male and 23 (4.1) female with mean age of 38 years. Out of 559 blood donors, 107 (19.1) were first-time donors, 163 (29.2) lapsed donors and 289 (51.7) regular donors. Anti-HAV was found in 395 (70.7) and anti-HEV in 45 (8.1) of the blood donors. The HAV and HEV seroprevalence increased by age. There was no significant difference between genders in terms of anti-HAV and anti-HEV status. The HAV and HEV seroprevalence was significantly related to the level of education, where the donors with higher level of education had lower rate of HAV and HEV seroprevalence. The HAV and HEV seroprevalence was significantly higher in regular and lapsed donors than in first-time donors. Conclusions: The present study showed that both HAV and HEV infections are still endemic in Iran. © 2016, Kowsar Corp